Toy track connecting means



Dec. 19, 1950 M. H- LARRABEE TOY TRACK CONNECTING MEANS Filed March 31,1948 anIII-InlIlIIIl-lulllllnlln umllllllm l l l z b awn 1 Ill- uumgq 58:y .mllllllllm I n 3 55 0x ll EIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII I." 34 Ii-IiIII.IIlIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-lllllllllllll llllilfi ralree,grwcm/tov Patented Dec. 19, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFF-ICE TOY TRACKGONNECTING -MEAN S Marshal H. Larrabee, Skaneateles,N. Y.

Application March 31, 1948, Serial No. 13,111

9 Claims. 1

In my United States Patent No. 2,254,153, granted August 26, 1941, Idisclose a toy consisting of a toy railway construction outfit composedof a set of cars, and certain track elements easily and simplyconstructed of simple wooden pieces.

The track elements shown in said patent consist of straight and curvedtrack pieces, crossovers, ramps and switches, capable of being joinedtogether by a tongue and slot connection pierced to receive a connectingpin.

The present invention relates to a new and novel track connecting meansintended to take the place of and eliminate the use of the connectingpins used according to the .previous dis-, closure.

Such pins, while entirely operative to perform the intended function,have been found to be undesirable in certain circumstances. Sets, suchas described in the patent, are intended'for children, and it has beenfound that it is difficult and tedious for very young children to jointrack sections together by placing such pins in the very small holes intongue and slot, which have to be aligned in order for the pins to passthrough.

Pins of the type required also have to be made especially, have to bepackaged with each set, and tend to become lost or scattered about theplayroom when used. Also there is the danger that children will placesuch pins in their mouths or swallow them.

The object of the present invention is to eliminate the difficultiesattending the use of pins, while providing a track joint of extremesimplicity, simple and cheap to fabricate.

The present invention supplies a joint for the types of track disclosedin my said patent, which is simpler to connect together, and providesany desirable amount of elasticity in the joint. Separate connectingmeans, such as the pins, are eliminated.

The nature of the invention will bedescribed in connectionwith thedrawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of two complementary track ends, showingone embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a top view of the invention of Fig. 1 with a partial cut-awayportion, showing the track ends in joined position;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the slot end of a track section, showinga modification; and

Fig. 4 is aperspective view similar to Fig. 1, showing a furthermodification.

For the sake of simplicity, a full showing of the various track pieceshas not been made, it being understood that these may be the samedescribed in my said patent.

Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate a track section In having parallel trackgrooves II and a square slot 2 i2, adapted to receive the tongue end 13of a track section I4, also having track grooves ll therein.

Slot i2 and tongue are made with a tolerant lit as is shown in Fig. 2,and do not of themselves supply sufiicient frictional contact to holdtrack sections Ill and I4 together.

In the side walls of the slot [2, Iprovide opposed chambered recesses l5and I6. As illustrated, these are circular and dish-shaped, as

they may be advantageously formed with a simple rotary cutting tool.

Connecting the recesses I5 and It with the upper face of the tracksection are vertical entrance channels II and I8. These channels arepreferable of slightly less width and depth than the recesses l5 and i6and may be formed in the same cutting operation.

The tongue [3 of track piece [4 is laterally 1 bored to provide a hole19 accommodating a billet or lug of resilient rubber 20. The rubberbillet 29 is of a length sufficient to protrude from either end of thehole l9 and to provide a frictional gripping fit in recesses and I6 whenjoined together, as shown in Fig. 2.

In order to join track pieces [0 and I4, piece l i is placed with tongue13 carrying the protruding ends of billet 20, over the entrance pointsof channels I! and I8. Pressure applied to piece I4 will then cause thebillet to pass downwardly through channels 1-! and i8, and enterrecesses l5 and I6, where it will be firmly lodged. Reverse pressurewill separate the track pieces.

In Fig. 3, a modified form of the invention is shown. In thismodification, the track piece carrying the tongue and rubber billet isthe same as described for Figs. 1 and 2. Track piece 2|, however,carries a slot 22, the walls of which carry opposed recesses 22 and 23,access to which by billet 20 is had by horizontally disposed entrancechannels 25 and 26. This form of the invention has the advantage thatthe track pieces do not need to be lifted in order to be joined;however, the first embodiment described has less tendency to pull apartas the result of a horizontal pull.

As shown in the further modification of Fig. 4, the position of theparts may be reversed. In this figure is shown a track piece 21 having asquare slot 29, the walls of which are bored with holes and 3|, in whichare held two resilient rubber billets 32 and 33. These billets are flushwith the outer track walls, and protrude into the slot 29, where theyengage in the recesses 34 and 35 carried by the tongue 38 of track piece28. Vertical entrance channels 36 and 31 connect with recesses 34 and35; these, however, may be horizontal, as in the embodiment of Fig. 3.

In the above views the rubber billets, the holes in which they arelocated, and the recesses for receiving and ripping the protrudingbillet ends, have been shown as circular, for the reason that stockrubber usually comes in this condition. It is obvious, of course, thatthe rubber billets may be square or of any other suitable shape, and theother parts, such as the recesses, adapted correspondingly. Also, whilerubber is preferred, other resilient materials may obviously be used.

Several obvious methods may be used to locate the rubber billets intothe holes bored for them. If the hole roughly corresponds to thediameter of the billet, it is necessary to coat the hole or the billetwith adhesive. Or, the billet being larger than the hole, it may beforced into the hole and will retain a frictional fit therein. Beforeinsertion into the holes, the billet is preferably cut to the desiredlength.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. Toy track sections having a joint including a slot carried by onesection and a tongue carried by an adjacent section to be coupledtherewith, said slot and tongue having opposite walls engaging eachother with a loose fit, said slot having a recessed wall portion, saidtongue carrying a lug of compressible material protruding therefrom andyieldingly frictionally engaging in said recessed wall portion, saidtrack sections being uncoupled by withdrawing said lug from saidrecessed wall portion through a channel in the wall of the slot.

2. Toy track sections having a joint including a slot carried by onesection and a tongue carried by an adjacent section to be coupledtherewith, u

said slot and tongue having opposite walls engaging each other with aloose fit, said slot having a recessed wall portion, said tonguecarrying a lug of compressible material protruding there from andyieldingly frictionally engaging in said recessed wall portion, saidtrack sections being uncoupled by withdrawing said lug from said recessthrough a channel in the wall of the slot, said channel being relativelysmaller than said lug.

3. Toy track sections having a joint including a slot carried by onesection and a tongue carried by an adjacent section to be coupledtherewith, said slot and tongue engaging each other with a loose fit,said slot having recessed wall portions, said tongue having a borecarrying a billet of compressible material protruding from the oppositeends of said bore and yieldingly frictionally engaging in said recessedwall portions, said track sections being uncoupled by withdrawing saidbillet from said recessed wall portions through channels in the walls ofsaid slot.

4. Toy track sections having a joint including a slot carried by onesection and a tongue carried by an adjacent section to be coupledtherewith, the walls of said slot and tongue engaging each other with aloose fit, a lug of compressible material supported by one of said wallsand a recessed portion in the wall opposite said lug, said lug and saidrecessed portion being in yielding frictional engagement when said tracksections are coupled, said sections being uncoupled by withdrawing saidlug from said recessed portion through a vertical channel in the Wallcarrying said recessed portion. a

5. Toy track sections having a joint including a slot carried by onesection and a tongue carried by an adjacent section to be coupled therewith, the walls of said slot and tongue engaging each other with a loosefit, a lug of compressible material supported by one of said walls and arecessed portion in the wall opposite said lug,

said lug and said recessed portion being in yielding frictionalengagement when said track sections are coupled, said sections beinguncoupled by withdrawing said lug from said recessed portion through ahorizontal channel in the wall carrying said recessed portion.

6. Toy track sections having a joint including a slot carried by onesection and a tongue carried by an adjacent section to be coupledtherewith, the side walls of said slot and tongue being in spacedrelationship when engaged together and having an interval of separationtherebetween leaving a loose fit in the joint, an elastic lug protrudingfrom a side Wall of one of said track sections to an amount in excess ofthe width of separation between said side walls, and pivotal means inthe side wall of the other track section engaging said lug for anglingsaid track sections in a longitudinal vertical plane.

7. Toy track sections having a joint including a slot carried by onesection and a tongue carried by an adjacent section to be coupledtherewith, the side walls of said slot and tongue being in spacedrelationship when engaged together and having an interval of separationthere between leaving a loose fit in the joint, an elastic lugprotruding from a side wall of one of said track sections to an amountin excess of the width of separation between said side walls, and arecessed wall portion in the side wall of the other track section inwhich the lug is permitted to expand, said lug and said recessed wallportion forming a'pivot point for angling said track sections in alongitudinal vertical plane.

8. The invention according to claim 7, further including an entrancechannel in the side wall of said other track section extending betweenan edge of the track and said recessed wall portion, said entrancechannel providing passage for the lug into and from said recessed wallportion, when the track sections are connected or disconnected.

9. Toy track sections having a joint including a slot carried by, onesection and a tongue carried by an adjacent section to be coupledtherewith, the walls of said slot and tongue engaging each other with aloose fit,,a lug of compressible material protruding from a wall of saidslot and yieldingly frictionally engaging a recessed portion in a wallof said tongue opposite thereto, and an entrance channel in the wall ofsaid tongue connecting with said recessed portion.

MARSHAL H. LARRABEE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,142,150 Dorrill June 8, 19151,971,545 Tompkins Aug. 28, 1934 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date307,505 Germany Jan. 31, 1918 570,620 Germany Feb. 17, 1933

